Without Doubt
by SkItZoFrEaK
Summary: Shikamaru was a suspicious man by nature. Genius Shinobi, Temari, Ino . One shot. Yet another random experiment born of an overworked mind.


A/N: Making a point for a friend. Here's the challenge: Is it Temari, or Ino? Also, I'd never written a Shikamaru before, so thought I'd give it a little try. And how does one spell shogi?

**Without Doubt**

Shikamaru was a suspicious man by nature. If asked from where his genius came, he might have said that it was born of constantly analyzing everything around him for threat. Then again, if anyone had asked him from where his genius came, he probably would have watched them carefully from the corners of his eyes and shrugged wordlessly.

He doubted everything, questioned the motives and reasons behind every little action and expression of those around him. It was an involuntary action on his part, and not only was it exhausting, it was irritating. He could only find relief from his own endlessly buzzing brain in three ways. The first was to completely focus his entire attention on some intricate and complex task, like shogi or chess. The second was to deliberately sabotaging his own concentration by lying somewhere peaceful and threat-free and forcing himself to not think anything at all.

The third thing hadn't come along until he was a little older. She'd strolled right into his life – well, ok, she'd actually been there for quite some time. He just hadn't really paid too much attention until he'd matured – alright, to be perfectly honest, he hadn't given her a second thought until post-puberty.

Whatever her influence on his childhood had been (or not been), she was a powerful force in his life now. She was the third and best thing that stopped the doubting, the mental hunt for holes and defenses and attacks. She was a combination of his previous escape methods – both a complex chess game to solve and a simple, calming object of contemplation. Like the clouds, or his strategy games, he simply didn't have to doubt anything about her.

She was beautiful, that was certain. She didn't wear makeup, and even without it she could turn any man's head as she walked by. It was more than her surprisingly deep blue eyes, or her shining blonde hair. It was more than her lean, leggy figure and rather interesting adult curves. It was probably mostly in her walk itself – in the way she seemed to saunter along, not cocky, not arrogant, just supremely and completely confident in her ability to handle any situation that came her way.

She was dangerous, of that he was certain too. Many of her opponents often judged her by her most famous techniques, thinking that she had only one or two good tricks and if they just figured a way around those, then they were set. Many of her opponents didn't last long, either. She had a variety of surprises in her pocket, and few things he enjoyed more than hearing her tales of conquest – which she had no problem telling him – whenever they met.

She was smart, a deadly combination of knowledge and craftiness that didn't exactly rival his but often presented enough of a challenge to make things interesting. He'd even picked up a few of her traps and tricks for himself, a fact that prompted much teasing from her.

She liked to tease him, to poke at him, to subtly challenge him whenever she could. He could be sure of some sort of affectionate insult (some less affectionate than others). Or, occassionally, a subtle show of real love that was intended to be obvious to him, and him alone. She would appear at random moments, sometimes by accident, often by design. It pleased him enormously, knowing that she deliberately sought him out when she was famous for her prickly attitude towards other men. And she was moody, given to fits of irritability followed by a strange cheerful sense of motivation that he often found, well, difficult to keep up with.

In the end, though, he loved her. She was temperamental. She was dangerous. She was complicated. She was perfect for him. Of that, he had no doubt at all.

* * *

Eh, not my best. Not my worst. Will maybe re-write, when I figure out a better Shika-voice. 


End file.
